In Willimantic, Connecticut there used to be an old mill that was converted to a music venue called the Shaboo. Low ceilings, with thick columns holding up huge beams scattered throughout the place. The men's room latrine consisted of a long trough. I think I was fourteen or so on my first trip to this eighteen and older establishment. I am sure I did not look eighteen at the time. It didn't matter.

What did matter is you could hear everything from local legends like Little Village, NRBQ and Aztec Two step to national acts such as James Montgomery, James Cotton, and, for my first time seeing him, Johnny Winter. Famous acts would perform what were known as gas gigs. These were concerts where the acts did not expect to make too much money, but sold a lot of merchandise and covered a little more than their expenses. They were also wonderful ways to get close to fans. Blue Oyster Cult used to perform under the moniker Soft White Underbelly. The Shaboo had a reputation and was placed in between Boston and New York, so it was a natural choice for venues.

The place burned down from an "accidental" fire in the eighties, but not before I saw Johnny Winter there again, opening for and later backing up his hero Muddy Waters on his Mannish Boy tour. Pine Top Perkins, "Duck" Dunn on bass, James Cotton on harp and other luminaries of the blues world together in a fairly small, very close venue was something special. Fans in the house would reach forward and shake hands with a performer who stood eight inches up and directly in front of them.

Shortly after, I saw Muddy Waters in Springfield, Massachusetts, where Johnny opened again and then joined Muddy Waters for the main show. In that same venue I saw him open for George Thorogood and the Destroyers. Thorogood was a great stage performer, who knew how to work the audience like few others. Johnny, however, just played. It was the first time I ever saw an opener have three encores. Thorogood did not seem to mind and had Winter come out onstage at the end of the show to jam. Magic.

As good as he was on studio tracks, as heard on The Progressive Blues Experiment and Still Alive and Well, live was the best way to hear him. He fed off the audience and, more importantly, the other performers playing alongside. God songs were made great and great songs were made treasures. He hailed in a time where American rock and blues artists were stacking up against English rock blues artists and music was forever transformed. Old legends were brought back and new ones were born. As a producer, writer and performer, Johnny Winter made a lot of that happen.

He was only 70, but lived a mighty hard life.  R.I.P., Mr. Winter.

Posted by: topmaker at 05:41 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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